Spotlight on the 57 Tony-Winning African American Actors & Actresses

February is way more than Valentine’s Day and the frigid cold, it’s also Black History Month, and in celebration, BroadwayBox takes a chronological look at the 53 African American actors and actresses to win Tony Awards in the eight competitive acting categories.

1950: Juanita Hall, South Pacific, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

Juanita Hall is the first African American to win a Tony Award; she's also the first person to ever win Best Featured Actress in a Musical, a category that was introduced in 1950.

1954: Harry Belafonte, John Murray Anderson’s Almanac, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

1962: Diahann Carroll, No Strings, Best Actress in a Musical

Carroll was the first African American actor or actress to win in a leading role.

1968: Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby!, Best Actress in a Musical

1968: Lillian Hayman, Hallelujah, Baby!, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1969: James Earl Jones, The Great White Hope, Best Actor in a Play

Jones was the first African American winner in any play category.

1970: Cleavon Little, Purlie, Best Actor in a Musical

1970: Melba Moore, Purlie, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1972: Linda Hopkins, Inner City, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

Photo by Bert Andrews

1973: Ben Vereen, Pippin, Best Actor in a Musical

1974: Virginia Capers, Raisin, Best Actress in a Musical

1975: Ted Ross, The Wiz, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

1975: Dee Dee Bridgewater, The Wiz, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1977: Delores Hall, Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1977: Trazana Beverley, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Best Featured Actress in a Play

1978: Nell Carter, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1981: Hinton Battle, Sophisticated Ladies, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

1982: Ben Harney, Dreamgirls, Best Actor in a Musical

1982: Jennifer Holliday, Dreamgirls, Best Actress in a Musical

1982: Cleavant Derricks, Dreamgirls, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

1982: Zakes Mokae, Master Harold…and the Boys, Best Featured Actor in a Play

1984: Hinton Battle, The Tap Dance Kid, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

1985: Ron Richardson, Big River, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

1985: Leilani Jones, Grind, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1987: James Earl Jones, Fences, Best Actor in a Play

1987: Mary Alice, Fences, Best Featured Actress in a Play

Photo by Paul J. Penders

1988: L. Scott Caldwell, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Best Featured Actress in a Play

1989: Ruth Brown, Black and Blue, Best Actress in a Musical

1991: Hinton Battle, Miss Saigon, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

1992: Gregory Hines, Jelly’s Last Jam, Best Actor in a Musical

1992: Tonya Pinkins, Jelly’s Last Jam, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1992: Laurence Fishburne, Two Trains Running, Best Featured Actor in a Play

1994: Audra McDonald, Carousel, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1994: Jeffrey Wright, Angels in America: Perestroika, Best Featured Actor in a Play

1995: Gretha Boston, Show Boat, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1996: Ann Duquesnay, Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1996: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Seven Guitars, Best Featured Actor in a Play

1996: Audra McDonald, Master Class, Best Featured Actress in a Play

1997: Chuck Cooper, The Life, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

1997: Lillias White, The Life, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

1997: Lynne Thigpen, An American Daughter, Best Featured Actress in a Play

1998: Audra McDonald, Ragtime, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

2000: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kiss Me, Kate, Best Actor in a Musical

2000: Heather Headley, Aida, Best Actress in a Musical

2001: Viola Davis, King Hedley II, Best Featured Actress in a Play

2004: Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun, Best Actress in a Play

2004: Anika Noni Rose, Caroline, or Change, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

2004: Audra McDonald, A Raisin in the Sun, Best Featured Actress in a Play

Photo by Joan Marcus

2005: Adriane Lenox, Doubt, Best Featured Actress in a Play

2006: LaChanze, The Color Purple, Best Actress in a Musical

Photo by Paul Kolnik

2009: Roger Robinson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Best Featured Actor in a Play

2010: Denzel Washington, Fences, Best Actor in a Play

2010: Viola Davis, Fences, Best Actress in a Play

2011: Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

2014: Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Best Actress in a Play

2014: James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

2014: Sophie Okonedo, A Raisin in the Sun, Best Featured Actress in a Play

Photo by Bridgette Lacombe & Bruce Glikas

2016: Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple, Best Actress in a Musical

2016: Leslie Odom Jr, Hamilton, Best Actor in a Musical

2016: Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

2016: Daveed Diggs, Hamilton, Best Featured Actor in a Musical

Fun Bonus Facts: Stew is the only winner of Best Book of a Musical, and the late Geoffrey Holder is the only winner for Best Costumes and he’s also the first African American director to win Best Director of a Musical. Bill T. Jones is the only African American choreographer to win more than once, and George C. Wolfe is the most nominated African American artist with 22 nominations and five wins.